The research group of Associate Professor Kazuhiro Hirayama of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Professor Tomohiko Fujisawa of Nisshin Pet Food Co., Ltd. and Japan Veterinary Life Science University is based on the characteristics of the intestinal flora of cats and their aging. We revealed changes in the intestinal flora.
Currently, the number of pets raised in Japan exceeds the number of children under the age of 15, and more attention is being paid to maintaining the health of pets.One of the means of maintaining health is to improve the intestinal environment, but it is essential to grasp information on the intestinal flora in order to create a better environment.
The group analyzed the cat's gut flora by dividing it into five age stages (pre-weaning, post-weaning, adulthood, old age, and old age) to characterize the cat's gut flora.That is, bifidobacteria in humans and lactic acid bacilli in dogs are representative of good bacteria, but in cats, neither of these intestinal bacteria is dominant, and "enterococci" occupy an important position.It was also clarified that the number of enterococci decreased in old-age cats, and that the constituent bacteria and their age-related changes were different from those observed in humans and dogs.
In humans, probiotics aimed at supplementing bifidobacteria, which decrease with age, are widely used to keep the intestinal flora healthy.The results of this research are expected to lead to the development of probiotics specialized for cats.
Paper information:[PLOS ONE] Transition of the intestinal microbiota of cats with age
